The Other Black Brother
by jewbiie
Summary: If Sirius had never come to live with him, none of this would have happened; and James wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. SiriusxJamesxRegulus with JPRL, SBRL and JPLE.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary – **If Sirius had never come to live with him, none of this would have happened; and James wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. SBJPRB with JPRL, SBRL and JPLE.

**Hey! So I've read some really good Marauder yaoi fanfiction's on here and one of my favourites was taken down a long while back (just finished mourning otl) which was called 'Don't Make a Sound' and it was a JPRB fan fiction~ now this doesn't mean the story will turn out that way. It might, it might not, you'll never know unless you read~ **

**But just encase the author of the mentioned story above reads this, if you gave an explanation as to why you deleted it, I never read it, so if possible could you please set my mind at rest? Thanks ; 3;**

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><p>"Merlin's beard Padfoot, you look like shit," James Potter said after he had opened the door for his best friend, Sirius Black.<p>

"Haha, thanks James," Sirius replied, stepping out of the dark, cold night and pulling his trunk into James' house.

They had been planning this since the day Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin like the entirety of the Black family was. Of course, back then when they were mere first years, they only lightly joked about Sirius either being kicked out of his family household or running away from it. When Sirius had spent days, sometimes weeks over the Potter's house for the last six years now, James' father and mother had always reassured Sirius if he ever needed a place to stay if he decided to move out of his house at number twelve Grimmauld, he was welcome to come and stay here.

It was currently the middle of summer and since they had headed home for it, Sirius made the hasty decision to, instead of waiting to be kicked out, move out of the house himself and move in with James. James was obviously thrilled by the idea, but it had taken three weeks of constant owling between the two boys to plan out how and when exactly Sirius was going to run off.

It wasn't as easy as both boys had previously anticipated. From what James heard in Sirius' letters, his parents were keeping a close eye on Sirius and barely ever left the house. Regulus hadn't been much help in the matter either, every time Sirius went about packing up essential things to take with him to the Potter's, Regulus would always point out snidely that Hogwarts wasn't starting for another six weeks or so and thus Sirius would grudgingly have to unpack to lower suspicions.

Tonight, it just so happened that Sirius' cousin, Narcissa, was holding an engagement party since Lucius Malfoy had proposed to her shortly after the end of their seventh year around the beginning of summer. Of course, Sirius was anything but invited to this event and was too glad of it. The rest of his family however were entitled to go, meaning Sirius was home alone for the first, and probably only time this summer.

Without hesitation, the eldest Black son quickly packed up his things and managed to talk a muggle woman into buying him a bus ticket and to give him directions on how to use a map. He'd have used floo powder, but it was late at night and he didn't want to give the Potter's a heart attack by appearing in their fireplace with an award winning grin whilst saying 'honey I'm home~!' even if the thought of doing so _was_ tempting.

Once he had gotten off the bus, looking at the directions on the map the lady had given him Sirius took it upon himself to bribe yet another muggle woman into giving him some money before proceeding to what he recognized from muggle studies as a pay phone. The Potter's had what they called a 'landline' since they had non-magic friends who desired to keep in touch with them too and James had told him once before what the number was to reach this landline.

Now Sirius, having grown up in an arrogant, pureblood family was bewildered once faced with this contraption called a payphone. First, he had to dig through his memory to recall the long, weird number James had told him a while back, and then he had to figure out how the payphone worked. It took him a good half an hour, then he realized he didn't have to say the numbers out loud, he had to push them into the machine and then put the phone by his ear.

Eventually, he heard James' voice on the other end and began ranting to him about how strange these things were and that his parents should just use their owls to message their muggle friends because of how hard these phones were to use and so on and so forth. James, after managing to get a word in edgeways asked Sirius why he was on a muggle phone in the first place, and then Sirius proceeded to tell James he was moving in with him. Now. He just didn't know where exactly to go from the current street he was on.

After finding out where exactly Sirius was, James told him that he was near the same place they usually would come by when heading to James' house, only it was night time. After giving more simple directions than the one the muggle lady had given Sirius, they both hung up and Sirius (eventually) found his way to the Potter house.

Thus, leading to this very moment.

"Could've given us more notice," James said as he helped Sirius pull his luggage into the hallway of his house, "I can't wait to see my mum and dad's face when they come downstairs in the morning and see you eating all their food."

"I won't even be awake until the afternoon now I'm finally out of that hellhole," Sirius grinned, running his fingers through his hair.

"You say that, but the moment you smell my mother's cooking in your sleep you'll be down there before I am _and_ eating my share of breakfast before you even realize it," James said jokingly.

"You know me too well Prongs," Sirius retorted, the grin on his face widening as he wrapped an arm around the other's shoulders, "Now take me to your humble adobe my fair maiden~!"

Laughing, James shrugged his friends arm off his shoulder and looked at him, "Alright, but you're sleeping on the floor."

"What! After I travelled all this way to hold you in my arms once again my dearest love! You turn me away in my gravest time of need and reduce me to nothing but dirt on the floor!" Sirius said dramatically, fake pouting.

"Yup," James replied, beginning to head up the stairs, "And you're still sleeping on the floor."

"Bastard," Sirius laughed, following James up the stairs and into his bedroom.

The room was messy to say the least, filled up with James' broomstick and his Quidditch gear that was carelessly tossed about the room with various other clothes and items. His owl was inside its cage near James' window asleep and the Gryffindor banner hung above the others bed with various different moving pictures scattered across the wall of James, Sirius, Remus and Peter.

"You can use my Quidditch uniform as your mattress," James beamed, leaning down and patting the clothes lightly.

"No, gross, they smell of you," Sirius replied, walking further into the room.

"_Old_ me, they haven't been washed since we got back from Hogwarts," James said proudly.

"Brilliant," Sirius grinned, "Just what I've always wanted, mouldy Potter stench invading my dreams."

"I smell beautiful," James said, punching Sirius' arm lightly, "Anyway...I'm glad you decided to finally leave that place. You should've done it a long time ago."

"I know," Sirius replied, "I didn't think I would be able to cope with them this long you know? It looks like I did though. I'm glad I'm out of there. I doubt they'll miss me."

"They're all a bunch of pricks Sirius," James said, placing a hand on his friends shoulder, "It shouldn't matter whether you were a Gryffindor or a Slytherin or Merlin even a Hufflepuff..."

"I think they would've kicked me out long ago if I was a Hufflepuff," Sirius said gravely.

"Now that's just plain mean," James joked, grinning slightly, "I think you'd have made a splendid Hufflepuff Padfoot...think of the...erm...happiness you'd bring to them! Yes! Happiness!"

"Pfft," Sirius snickered, grabbing one of James' two pillows and tossing it onto the floor, "Yes happiness and sexual experience."

"I'd rather not know how you'd plan on doing the last one Padfoot, too much information," James replied, sitting down on his bed and laying back on his hands, "The wondrous sexual adventures of Sirius Black and every Hufflepuff known to man!"

"Every _female_ Hufflepuff known to man," Sirius corrected.

James snorted, "Please don't attempt to lie about something that is obviously true."

"I'm not saying that I wouldn't do it with a guy," Sirius said, leaning back on his own hands and looking up at James, "I'm saying I wouldn't do it with a _Hufflepuff_ guy."

"I'm sure a little firewhisky would change that," James said, shaking his head a little before laying down on his bed, rolling onto his back, "Now go to sleep before I put a silencing charm on you."

"You're not of age."

"...damnit."

-o-o-o-

Regulus never really liked attending his family's social gatherings.

Granted, he adored his cousin Cissy far more than Andromeda and Bellatrix, but he had no interested in attending this party. All it did was give the families attending a chance to brag to each other about how pure and superior they are to each other and how much they despised mudblood's. Although Regulus did enjoy is sly snide about the common mudblood here and there and even though he did like to gloat that he was part of a prestigious family whose pureblood was that of the oldest in Britain, there were times when even that got too much.

Sighing, he managed to part himself from his mother and father and make his way over to where the drinks were, pouring himself a glass of butterbeer. It was annoying that the Malfoy's house elves weren't around to do it, but he couldn't exactly complain, it wasn't his place to. He had to just respect that the Malfoy's obviously weren't good at keeping their house elves in line and bare with it.

From afar, he could see his mother waddle her way over to Narcissa and enthusiastically congratulate her and Lucius on their engagement. When his mother heard the news that another of her lovely nieces were going to be marrying soon she was absolutely ecstatic and then pried on at Regulus about how he needed to find a nice pureblood girl to marry soon so they could keep up with her nieces.

It annoyed Regulus when his mother hampered on about that. Since Sirius was out of the picture more or less, everything came down on him. The pressure to do good at school, uphold the family line as the only male Black left as they didn't consider Sirius as their son more and most importantly, once he turned sixteen, to join forces with this apparent Dark Lord called Lord Voldemort.

It would be easier of course if none of the Slytherin girls hated him – in fact pretty much every Slytherin disliked him, apart from Severus. Now that Narcissa had graduated there would be no one to look out for him in the Slytherin house other than Snape, and no one listened to him. Avery and Nott were probably going to double team on him more than ever now and there was virtually nothing he could do.

On the bright side, at least he got to see his cousin happy for the first time in a while. Ever since Lucius graduated while she was in her fifth year Narcissa became less talkative and more refined from others. She loved Lucius, very much, which was rare when it came to pureblood marriages. Usually they were forced upon the two involved but not for them – and that was nice to see.

Sipping his butterbeer, Regulus leaned against the wall, a hand in his trouser pocket. Of course this sort of situation would be brought upon him eventually if he didn't find a half decent woman who didn't a) hate him or b) want to marry him because the surname was Black. It was more frustrating than they all probably thought, especially when you don't swing _that_ way.

Oh yes, Regulus wasn't interested in females and he knew that for sure. Since he was always swamped by three female cousins and a mother who breathed down his neck every five seconds, he grew tired of the high pitched voices and the idiotic mood swings they all had until he eventually realized that he had liked guys all along in the first place. His first crush was a little worse for wear and was actually Severus himself, but thankfully Regulus never told him that. He soon found out Severus was all for Lily Evans, a mudblood in Severus' year and didn't question anymore about it.

He had passing attractions now and then, but never a proper boyfriend. He'd had flings with one or two Ravenclaw males but if anything, it wasn't anything serious. They couldn't ever be anything serious because of what his family expected from him. It was an annoyance, but he had to bare with it, as the favourite.

"Ah, Regulus," he heard Narcissa's voice call from in front of him suddenly. Jerking in surprise and almost dropping his butterbeer, Regulus glanced up to look at his cousin with an uneasy slight smile making its way onto his lips.

"I'm glad you came," she said, making her way over to Regulus and giving him a quick hug, "Have you gotten your O.W.L's back yet?"

"No," Regulus replied sharply, holding his butterbeer tighter, "I haven't."

"Well, I'm sure aunt Walburga will owl us all when you get your results," Narcissa nodded, "I don't doubt that they'll be good."

"Thank you Narcissa," Regulus replied bluntly. Although she was his favourite cousin, Regulus found it hard to vocally express that aspect, like he did with everyone else alive.

"Stop hoarding the boy to yourself Cissy and let him get out there and mingle!" the shrill voice of his shrieking cousin, Bellatrix, called from beside them, strolling along up to them with a sort of edgy limp to her walk that seemed to be done more out of purpose than it being an actual limp.

"Good evening Bellatrix," Regulus nodded, hoping his cousin wouldn't stick around for long.

He favoured Bellatrix more than Andromeda yes, but she was far too...eccentric for his liking. She'd gotten worse when she married her husband, Rodolphus Lestrange two years ago.

"Why you being so formal for Reggie?" she questioned, her thick cockney accent prominent in her voice, "Go off and make some use of yourself boy! That Parkinson girl has been having her eye on you ever since you walked through those doors!"

"I'd rather not go and talk with Miss Parkinson," Regulus replied calmly, sipping his butterbeer, "I do believe my mother would like decent looking offspring not offspring that look like a deformed house elf."

Bellatrix broke into a loud screech of laughter, her lips curling into a twisted grin as she snickered at Regulus' blunt response.

"Ah well I suppose you're right, she is a bit ugly for a pureblood," Bellatrix said once she had calmed down from her laughter.

"I'm sure Regulus will find someone he loves when he's ready Bella," Narcissa said steadily.

"What and end up all lovey-dovey like you and Malfoy over there?" Bellatrix snorted, turning back to look at Regulus, "Don't listen to her Reggie, it's not how it always works. She's living in a silly little kid's tale."

"Bella," Narcissa said, her face tensing as she spoke, her anger slowly rising.

Bellatrix gave her sister a lazy sort of 'what' look before ruffling Regulus' hair and walking away in that ridiculous looking limp.

Frowning, Narcissa placed her hand on Regulus' shoulder and shook it lightly before patting it, wandering back off to welcome more guests who were currently arriving.

"Regulus!" a piercing voice cried as Regulus just began to salvage the fact he was alone again. He looked up to see none other than Mildred Parkinson running over to him, her obviously too big for her bra bunching up as she ran over to him and scrunched up face turning slightly red, wheezing and panting from the short distance she ran.

Inwardly sighing, Regulus placed down his butterbeer and readied himself for his encounter with Mildred. Now, it's true that all Slytherin's bar Severus Snape couldn't stand Regulus, but Mildred Parkinson was one of those girls who were desperate for anyone and anything.

Regulus wasn't as mean as Bellatrix was, but he certainly wasn't as polite as Narcissa. For lack of better words, Mildred was hideous. She still had some scars on her pudgy face from her recent dragon pox with thin lips, small eyes and a slightly turned up nose. She was short, not fat but definitely wasn't skinny. Her voice was almost as shrill and high pitched as Bella's, except far more pitchy and annoying. Everything about her was just everything in a woman that made Regulus hate them in the first place.

"Ah, Miss Parkinson, good evening," Regulus said politely, nodding his head and looking over her shoulder, trying to divert the conversation before the girl got started.

"Regulus, you can call me Mildred you know," Mildred replied, placing a hand on her hip, "We go to school together after all."

"Miss Parkinson will suffice," Regulus said emotionlessly, glancing back down at her.

"Whatever," she said, her eyes wandering up Regulus' body as she unconsciously licked her lips, "It's rather nice that your cousin is getting engaged isn't it?"

"I guess," Regulus said simply, shrugging lightly.

"So you'll be the next to get engaged...right?" Mildred pressed on, stepping closer to Regulus.

"That's the plan," Regulus stated.

"Well," Mildred said sultrily, smirking up at Regulus, "My father was looking for me to find a betrothed soon..."

"Wonderful," Regulus said sarcastically, "I'm sure he already has someone picked for you."

"Actually," Mildred said, moving closer so her body was just shy of coming into contact with Regulus', "He's allowing myself and Peter to choose our own suitors."

"...and I care about this because?" Regulus asked slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you honestly that dense Black?" Mildred spat, folding her arms and glaring at Regulus.

"No I'm just choosing to ignore your advances."

"Fuck you Black," Mildred said angrily, turning on her heel and storming off.

"...I'd rather not," Regulus replied to himself quietly, smirking to himself as he picked up the butterbeer beside him again and began drinking it slowly.

Hmm, maybe that's why people didn't like him.

-o-o-o-

It was a couple of hours until morning came around. James was awoken by the sound of his mother knocking on the door loudly before barging in asking why on earth there were two suitcases and a bunch of other things hoarded in their hallway before averting her eyes to the floor and spotting Sirius. Needless to say, her question was answered and left the groggy half awake James and the sleeping Sirius with a promise of a nice big cooked breakfast to welcome Sirius home.

A few minutes later, James pushed himself out of bed and got up. Once he was woken up it was hard for him to get back to sleep, which annoyed him. He could've at least slept another five or six hours until it was past noon easily. He completely forgot to move Sirius' stuff up to his room, meaning he had just completely ruined the surprise of presenting Sirius to his parents when they both felt like getting up and out of bed.

Rubbing his forehead, James went to step over Sirius, only to stand on his hair, tugging at it as he headed over to his wardrobe, causing his no longer sleeping friend to groan in pain before sitting up once James had lifted his food off of his hair.

Sirius rubbed the part of his head where he felt the tug on his hair and yawned, turning to look at James with a slight glare, who was paying no attention to him.

"Proooongs! You stood on my hair!" Sirius whined.

"Then go and get it cut," James grumbled quietly, pulling some clothes out of his closet before shutting it with his foot.

"I'm not cutting off my precious hair to please your feet!" Sirius hissed, watching James as he made his way out of the bedroom and to the bathroom down the hall.

James turned on the shower and sat on the toilet as he waited for it to heat up. James Potter wasn't a morning person and there wasn't a human being alive that could make him appreciate the light of day during the morning. No, like most owls, he was nocturnal, he belonged to the dead of night. Unlike his pet owl that seemed to defy the laws of nature and over time had become more of a morning owl than a nocturnal creature.

Shaking his head, James stripped off and jumped into the warm shower a couple of minutes later, instantly waking up once feeling the water hit his skin. He'd have to owl Peter and Remus once he finished in the shower about where to mail Sirius now when sending him an owl and also to come over and celebrate. Of course, they'd have to celebrate quietly though since his parents went to bed ridiculously early.

Then again, they were rather old.

Finishing up in the shower ten minutes later, James quickly dried himself and dressed before heading back into his room, hair still wet.

Sirius was awake, half dressed on James' bed with a muggle book held over his head.

"What is this about? I can't really get into it. There are no pictures that appear, just words, like one of McGonagall's textbooks," Sirius said, flicking through every page hastily in hopes to find something interesting.

"Oh," James said, grinning slightly, "It's one of my dad's books a muggle friend of his bought for him during his birthday earlier this year. It's called 'Interview with a Vampire'."

"...but did they _really_ interview a vampire?" Sirius questioned, sitting up.

"Probably not," James grinned, sitting down on the bed opposite Sirius, "I doubt vampires are friendly enough to want to be interviewed."

"...but then why is it called Interview with a Vampire?" Sirius asked again, gesturing to the book.

"...because the title is interesting? I don't know, I don't read. Mum put it in my room for some reason," James said.

"Oh," Sirius said, shifting a little, "Well...I guess that sort of makes sense."

"Why were you looking at it anyway?" James asked, picking up the book and looking at it himself.

Sirius shrugged, "I was bored and I didn't want to surprise Angela yet."

"She knows your here," James said, "She came in to ask whose trunks were downstairs then saw you sleeping on the floor and left again."

"What!" Sirius exclaimed, standing from the bed, "My plans! Ruined! I should've come by floo powder..."

"...Sirius," James said seriously, looking at his best friend, "If you popped into my home by floo powder unexpected we'd both be homeless."

"Which is why I decided against it!" Sirius said proudly, beaming.

James slapped his forehead, shaking his head a little but grinning. On the bright side, he didn't coat his living room in a swarm of floo powder or give his parents a heart attack. On the downside, his mother had ruined the surprise for them.

"Hey," Sirius said, sitting back down on the edge of the bed again, looking over at James, "Does that old muggle lady who hates me still live next door to you?"

After a moment, James slowly began to grin which his best friend soon mirrored.

"I'll take that as yes," Sirius said, standing up, "Time to announce my arrival!"

"In your boxers?" James chuckled.

"I want her to accept me for who I am James!" Sirius said in an overly fake dramatic voice, clenching his fists, "You can't change this! I have to do this! It's been foretold in the legend of Sirius Black! The sexiest man to ever li—ow!" he yelled as James threw the rather large book 'Interview with a Vampire' at him.

"Piss off then, if she chases you around with a newspaper though and you end up with a bruise from it, don't come crying to me for comfort," James grinned, getting up from the bed and heading over to this writing desk area, pulling the chair out.

"I won't," Sirius replied, "I'll go running to Angela. Or Jim."

"Of course you will," James said, dipping his quill into his pot of ink and pulling out a blank sheet of parchment from his stack.

"...? Who you writing to? Evans again?" Sirius asked, leering over James.

James rolled his eyes and shook his head, "No, it's plainly obvious she doesn't forgive me for the underwear jinx I performed on her and Snape at the end of the year yet. I'm owling Moony and Wormtail."

"Oh, why?" Sirius asked, resting his hands on James' chair and beginning to watch him write.

"To let them know where to owl you from now on, and to invite them over for a _super special awesome sleepover_!" James said, saying the last four words in a terrible high pitched girl-like voice.

"Oh yay~!" Sirius replied in the same mocking girly tone, "That's like, so totally awesome!"

"I know right!" James squealed before bursting into laughter, turning his head to look at Sirius, a huge grin spread across his face, "Oh Padfoot, what on earth would I do without you."

"I dunno," Sirius replied, "Be bored?"

"Probably," James said, turning back to the parchment and continuing to write the first letter to Remus.

"I should send them an owl too!" Sirius declared, standing up properly.

"Sirius your owls include two lines and at most a small paragraph," James retorted, sniggering lightly, "Which is usually written in poor handwriting."

"I can change!" Sirius declared.

"Well you can borrow my quill and ink once you've finished greeting Mrs Parker next door," James said.

"Perfect," Sirius grinned, running out of the bedroom and out into the Potter's front lawn – in just his boxers.

Shaking his head, James continued on with his letter.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Moony,<em>

_Hey, how've you been? Sorry I haven't replied to your last two letters yet, I've been busy._

_Sirius has finally left his house and is now staying here with me. And expect a poorly made letter from him too because he plans on trying to write longer letters._

_Also, to celebrate, are you free this weekend? I'm planning on having a sleepover with the four of us. Just owl back a date you're free or something._

_-James_

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><p><em>Dear Wormtail,<em>

_Hey Peter! How've you been? Sorry I haven't messaged you yet. I knew you were away visiting your family abroad so I didn't want to disturb you lot or anything. How was it?_

_Sirius is with me now, he finally left Grimmauld place. Thank God. He plans to mail you later so be prepared. You know what his letters are like!_

_Are you free this weekend to come over and celebrate? It's just going to be the four of us, just make sure to include a date and time you're free to come over on!_

_-James_

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><p>Placing his quill back down in his ink, his quickly put the letters in different envelopes and attached them to his owl, instructing which letter went to who before letting him fly off.<p>

As his owl flew out of his window, James hear a loud gasp and then shriek of the word 'fiend' from below. Glancing down at the lawn below, James smiled softly as he saw Sirius being chased around the Potter's garden by Mrs Parker who had a rolled up newspaper waiting to hit Sirius with it when she got the chance.

"Typical," James muttered before heading downstairs to help his friend out.


	2. Chapter 2

**This has been sitting in my documents for far too long. I need to stop being lazy.**

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><p>"Regulus," Walburga Black began as Regulus descended down the stairs of the Black house the following morning, "Where is Sirius?"<p>

Regulus took a few more steps before looking up at his mother with a confused gaze. Since when was his mother ever concerned about the whereabouts of his older brother? Nonchalantly he shrugged his shoulders as he continued slowly towards the bottom of the staircase. Instantly, his mother's face almost showed a sign of concern before it twisted into a foul snarl. There was something about her posture and stance that intrigued Regulus further about why his mother needed to see Sirius. Obviously it wasn't just to yell at him again.

"That selfish pig of a son!" she suddenly spat, turning on her heel and beginning to waddle her way back into their dining room where his father was reading the Daily Prophet, sat at one of the seats at their very large dining table.

"Orion!" Walburga almost yelled, her heels clanking against the floorboards coming to a halt as she stood next to her husband's chair. Curious, Regulus climbed up the staircase by a few steps to listen in on the conversation between his mother and father, helplessly intrigued by what was making his mother so angry.

He saw his father fold his newspaper whilst sighing, his head craning to look up at his wife.

"What is it Walburga?" he asked indifferently, his expression reading that of both boredom and carelessness. The usual response from his father when Regulus's mother tended to go on an angry rampage.

"Sirius is missing," she seethed, her arms folding as she glared down at her husband, "After I finally found a way for him to redeem himself by having the Dark Lord agreeing to let him join the ranks to make up for his traitorous actions of becoming a _Gryffindor_…"

"Walburga," Orion interrupted, turning on his chair to face her, "That boy would not have been any use to the Dark Lord. To even _think_ you thought of giving him a chance to redeem himself is preposterous, you hear? That boy was nothing but trouble. He is _not_ our son."

"If he just went to see the Dark Lord, maybe he would've seen—!" she began desperately as Orion stood up, slamming the Daily Prophet down on the dining table. Instantly she stopped talking and stood still.

"We only have _one_ son," Orion spat, leaning in close to Walburga as he began to speak, "I'll contact the Dark Lord myself and explain to him your foolishness!"

"…I understand, Orion," she replied quietly, so quietly Regulus could barely make out what she had said at first.

"If he has not been found in three days, you are to remove his name from the family tree," Orion finished, turning away from his wife and heading further into the kitchen out of Regulus's sight.

"Of course," Regulus heard his mother reply.

Instantly, Regulus ran back upstairs to his room as quietly as he could, both distraught and confused by what he had just overheard.

No one who did not live within the house of Black could understand his mother's love towards Sirius; it was something only Regulus, whom had quietly observed over the years Sirius had been sorted into Hogwarts, could see. To Regulus, he wasn't even sure if his own mother really understood it herself – how she still loved her son even though he had 'betrayed' the family name and been sorted into Gryffindor.

His mother was a cryptic beauty that Regulus had always admired; strong willed and assertive towards almost everyone, yet submissive towards her husband – his father – Orion Black. She was a proud former Slytherin who had come from the Black family herself before she married his father. Regulus had been told countless of times how pleased she was to have two sons to carry on the family name too, and her love and admiration came from that, knowing that she'd be the woman who had helped continue the Black family.

Unlike Sirius, Regulus had always tried to live his mother's dreams through himself. Where Sirius would rebel, Regulus would strive to make his mother and father proud. He knew, however, he was not as special to his mother as Sirius was. No, Sirius was her first born, her first son, and that's where the desperation of trying to redeem Sirius's traitorous behaviour came from. It seemed obvious to only Regulus she couldn't let go of that knowledge and let the shame overwhelm her – to know that she would've been the mother of a son that betrayed the family name was almost too overbearing for her.

Before Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor, she was a much more loving parent – as loving as a twisted, majestic and evil woman could get. She loved both Regulus and Sirius equally and had high hopes for them both. The moment Sirius wrote to the family announcing he was in Gryffindor however, she changed. Her majesty and beauty became sunken and willowed; her eyebrows over time grew arched from being tense and angry almost all the time and her once exquisite beauty died out. Hollow and cold, Regulus was always angry towards Sirius for not realizing what he had done to their mother. He had always blamed him.

Shutting the door to his room gently, Regulus let out a small sigh of frustration. He hated how his father talked down towards his mother when all she was trying to do was to bring respect back to Sirius's name, to redeem him, and yet he waved his hand and dismissed her like he didn't care. How he couldn't care about his son was always beyond Regulus. Has Sirius really done a bad thing? Even though he hated Sirius himself, Sirius was still his brother.

It was then it hit him – Sirius had ran away and he had an idea where to.

Turning around abruptly, Regulus snuck quietly into Sirius's bedroom, trying to make sure the floorboards didn't creek beneath his feet in case he attracted the attention of his mother and father. No, he wanted this to be a surprise. He wanted to be able to say 'I found Sirius and brought him home, aren't you happy?'

He pushed open the door to his brother's bedroom and wrinkled his nose at the gold and red décor spread out throughout the room. Of course, it was to be expected, Sirius was a Gryffindor after all. It was only obvious he'd decorate his room with those distasteful colours and not that of the Slytherin house. He'd have been foolish to think otherwise.

Regulus walked slowly into the room, examining how messy and overturned it was. It was clear that either Sirius had been in a rush to pack things and run away like Regulus suspected, or his mother had overturned everything in a fit of rage when she discovered Sirius wasn't in his room. Regulus let a small, sinister smile creep onto his face at the thought of his mother frantically overturning everything in his brother's room. Although he loved his mother dearly, it would've been highly amusing to see such a proud woman in a frantic state of anger and desperation.

Finally reaching the writing desk that was perched against one of the walls in Sirius's room, Regulus sat down on the chair and picked up a few opened letters that were scattered across the table – a few of which had come from James Potter. Of course, Regulus wouldn't have expected much else, Sirius stuck to that guy like a sticking jinx. If he was anywhere, he would be there.

He never liked the Potter's. They were all rude, arrogant and full of themselves who loved mudbloods. Some were prestigious but not James Potter. No, James Potter was anything but that and why Sirius would ever befriend someone _like_ James Potter was beyond him.

Sighing, Regulus pushed the letters away from him and rested his head in his hand, frowning slightly. He couldn't exactly go to the Potter house uninvited and demand his brother return with him. Not only would the door be shut in his face but Sirius and James would probably laugh at him beforehand, mock him and _then_ shut the door, not giving him the time of day. His plan was foiled. He didn't want to suffer that humiliation when he already knew what the outcome would be.

"Regulus?" he heard his mother's voice suddenly bark from the frame of Sirius's door. Regulus jolted slightly in surprise, jerking his head up to look at his mother, his face expressing shock for a few moments before going back to an expressionless gaze.

"…what?" Regulus replied, sitting up straight.

"What are you doing in Sirius's room," she asked as she folded her arms, almost glaring down at him.

"Looking for something mother," Regulus replied as he stood up.

Walburga raised one of her already arched eyebrows higher, her gaze intensifying on her son, "And why would something of yours be inside Sirius's room?"

Regulus shrugged, "It was a place to look."

"A place to look is it?" she replied, stepping into the room, "And what is it you are looking for?"

"It doesn't matter," Regulus quickly replied, "I think I remember where I put it."

"Then hurry up and get out of Sirius's room!"

"Yes, mother."

-o-o-o-

"It's a real shame Peter couldn't make it," James said as he, Sirius and Remus Lupin sat on his bedroom floor surrounded by empty wrappers of chocolate frogs, boxes of Bertie Bots Every Flavoured Beans and cups of Butterbeer. It was barely passed five in the afternoon and they were already running out of their 'midnight feast' the three boy's had contributed to. Well, most of it came from Remus, but it's not like that mattered or anything.

"It is," Remus agreed as he sipped his Butterbeer, "Did he tell you why he didn't come?"

James shook his head, "He hasn't even replied to my letter. It's not like him…I'm sort of worried."

"I'm sure he's fine," Sirius said, taking out one of the flavoured beans and eating it, spitting it out moments later, "Yuck, vomit flavour."

"Unlucky Padfoot," James snorted, taking out another bean and eating it, spitting his out too, "Ugh…rotten pumpkin flavour…"

"Ha! That's revenge for making fun of my vomit!" Sirius proclaimed and James hit him playfully over the head with pillow, still grinning.

"I'd rather eat rotten pumpkin than vomit," James replied.

"Nope! Vomit's better! Right Remus?" Sirius asked, looking at Remus with a smouldering gaze.

"…I'd rather take my chances with the rotten pumpkin Sirius," Remus said, giving Sirius a small, comforting smile.

Sirius frowned, leaning back against James's wall and taking out another bean, playfully scowling, "You weren't the ones who ate the vomit…you wouldn't understand how it's better…"

Remus laughed lightly and shook his head, turning his attention to James, smiling at him, "Have you sent an owl to Lily yet?"

"Who, Evans? Nah," James replied, eating one of the chocolate frogs to rid himself of the horrible taste of rotten pumpkin, "She's still mad at me, I tried to owl her early in the summer but she sent me a howler."

"Really?" Remus said, smiling knowingly as he sipped his Butterbeer, "I just happen to know from a certain letter she sent me she misses your 'pointless yet heart-warmingly amusing' letters."

James's face lit up like a child's face on Christmas almost instantaneously.

"Evans said that!?" he exclaimed happily.

Remus waved his hand and hushed him, quietly chuckling as he did so, "Yes she said that."

"I bet Moony is just saying that so you don't feel like a complete loser," Sirius snidely remarked with his mouth full, spraying bits of chocolate frog across James's bedroom floor as he spoke. James lightly shoved Sirius whilst laughing a little, grinning at him.

"Don't be such a tosser, Evans totally digs me and you're just jealous," James proclaimed proudly.

Sirius snorted, "Pfft, yeah, and I ride around the Astronomy tower naked on my broomstick every night."

"I didn't need to imagine that Sirius," Remus said, shifting uncomfortably moments after making his remark, "If you want to spend your midnights riding on your broomstick around the Astronomy tower naked, I'd suggest you keep that to yourself."

"I know you're all just jealous of my bravery, really," Sirius grinned.

James rested one of his hands on Sirius's shoulder and gently patted it mockingly, "That's not bravery mate, that's what you call exhibitionism."

Sirius stared at James like he had grown two heads, "I don't even want to know where you've learned a big word like that. You've obviously been spending too much time around old Moony here and not enough time around me."

"I'll admit, it's quite a surprise to hear you even pronounce such a long word correctly James, let alone know what it means," Remus said, smiling softly as he did.

James mockingly frowned, "I'm not an idiot like you make me out to be y'know."

"Oh I know that James, but you present the opportunity to make out you're a bit of a twat far too often."

"Thanks Moony."

"You're more than welcome James."

After pausing for a few brief moments, James leaned back against the edge of his bed. He placed his hands behind his head whilst a rather large smile crept up onto his face. Thinking back to what Remus said, about Lily and how she missed having him mail her…it warmed his heart. Although by this point in his life, he'd pretty much given up on the idea of chasing after Lily, hearing that she actually missed him, it kept what little hope he had for a chance with her alive. Sure, it was unlikely that someone as fucking gorgeous as Lily would pay attention to a (sometimes) obnoxious guy like James Potter – but hey, a guy can dream, right?

Nevertheless, James put aside his thoughts of Lily for tonight, and proceeded to enjoy his evening with Sirius and Remus – with style.

* * *

><p><strong>This is a lot shorter, but I couldn't really feel what more I could write in this chapter and it's been sitting in my documents for too long. Enjoy!<strong>


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